Black Pepper

Water

Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.

Needs about 1,320 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 770 mm it can use in a normal year, and 610 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 22–35 °C on average, and survives 10–40 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

• Jun 32 °C / 21 °C
• Jul 28 °C / 21 °C
• Aug 27 °C / 21 °C
• Sep 27 °C / 19 °C
• Oct 25 °C / 15 °C (outside its best range)
• Nov 21 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
• Dec 17 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 15 °C / 5 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 18 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 23 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
• Apr 29 °C / 16 °C
• May 32 °C / 20 °C
• Jun 32 °C / 21 °C

Nights in December can bring frost. When frost is forecast, water the field lightly in the evening.

Soil

Soil for Black Pepper: 9 out of 10 (good).

Not in the score: nitrogen, organic carbon, sulphur and boron.

• The pH here suits it.

Likes pH 6.0–7.0.

Money

Yield: about 1.9 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).

A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 3 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.

Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.

Mandi price at last season's harvest (December 2025–March 2026): about ₹65,872 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹68,511 a quintal, the middle of 33 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).

Prices are usually best in November.

Typical costs are about ₹65,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.